Lib Dems to make middle class pay

CHARLES KENNEDY today warned the middle classes would have to pay their 'fair share' in taxes if the Liberal Democrats won the next election.

Mr Kennedy accepted his party's plans would see higher earners pay more in taxation.

But he said voters were 'not stupid' and realised 'you could not get something for nothing'.

He was speaking at the launch of the party's general election campaign, which it will fight under the slogan 'the real opposition'.

The Liberal Democrats plan to raise the top rate of tax for everyone earning more than £100,000. This additional income would fund free personal care for the elderly and the abolition of top-up fees. But the party also plans to replace council tax with a form of local income tax under which three out of 10 householders would face higher bills.

Mr Kennedy promised a 'fair taxation' where people would pay 'according to their needs - every person paying their fair share, so that as a society we can grow and our public lives are enriched'.

There were 'no limits' to Liberal Democrats' ambitions at the election, he said.

'The majority of the people now see the Liberal Democrats as the real opposition. The Conservatives have been fading away as a truly national party... and Labour has used up the trust and goodwill of people,' he said.

Mr Kennedy said voters would be presented with a choice of 'hope versus fear'.

'Labour is counting on the politics of fear, ratcheting up talk of threats, crime and insecurity. And the Conservatives are reworking their populist scares of asylum and the perceived European 'menace',' he said.

Only the Liberal Democrats were offering the politics of hope.

Mr Kennedy refused to predict the number of seats his party would win but suggested there was a strong possibility of a hung parliament.

'It is the Liberal Democrats who will be challenging Labour in its heartlands and we will be targeting the Conservatives in the south and the shires,' he said.

Mr Kennedy ruled out entering a coalition with Labour if Tony Blair failed to win a clear majority. He said it would be 'absurd' to prop up the Government having campaigned during the election for a different programme of policies.